Shopping trolley

ABSTRACT

A shopping trolley ( 10 ) has a basket ( 11 ), handle ( 12 ) and front and rear wheels ( 13, 14 ). The basket ( 11 ), tapered in plan view, has side walls ( 15, 16 ) interconnected by a front wall ( 17 ). The rear wall ( 19 ) is hingedly connected to the side walls ( 15, 16 ) and engages the rearward end of the floor ( 22 ), which is hingedly connected to the side walls ( 15, 16 ) or front wall ( 17 ). The floor ( 22 ) is downwardly inclined from the rearward end to the forward end. When the trolley ( 10 ) is nested with a similar trolley, the rear wall ( 19 ) is swung inwardly and upwardly, causing the floor ( 22 ) to be swung upwardly to be behind the front wall ( 17 ). Alternative the floor ( 22 ) may be folded e.g. in a concertina-like fashion, to be behind the front wall ( 17 ).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] THIS INVENTION relates to a shopping trolley.

[0003] The invention particularly relates, but is not limited to, ashopping trolley designed to be nested with similar trolleys when not inuse.

[0004] 2. Prior Art

[0005] Current shopping trolleys have a number of defects. Examples ofthe current defects are:

[0006] a) they are hard to steer, push and control—one only needs toobserve elderly, and even young, people using existing trolleys to seethis, either laden or unladen;

[0007] b) they damage vehicles and shopping centres;

[0008] c) the current design allows children to stand on the base wheelframe and hang off the sides, making the trolleys unstable anddangerous;

[0009] d) they are noisy—a function of their construction from metal andof current wheel design that promotes “shudder”;

[0010] e) no shelves or different levels or hooks upon which a shoppercan place food items susceptible to damage from being squashed by otheritems subsequently placed in the trolley or from children riding in thetrolley are provided; and

[0011] f) they have limited means for attaching advertising to thetrolley and have limited surface area to provide effective advertisingupon.

[0012] Attempts have been made to minimise the defects by using newtypes of construction, including trolleys having baskets moulded ofplastics materials. Examples are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,696(De LUNA) and U.S. Pat. No. D 444,281 S (GAZE et al).

[0013] While these shopping trolleys have reduced or ameliorated some ofthe defects, they have not provided a successful answer.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0014] It is an object of the present invention to provide a shoppingtrolley which eliminates, or least ameliorates, the defects in the knowntrolleys.

[0015] It is a preferred object to provide a trolley which can be nestedwith similar trolleys, when not in use, in a minimum space.

[0016] It is a further preferred object to provide a trolley whichmaximises the area available for advertising.

[0017] It is a still further preferred object to provide a trolley whichcannot be stood on by children to make the trolley unstable.

[0018] It is a still further preferred object to provide a trolley whicheliminates a separate frame.

[0019] Other preferred objects will become apparent from the followingdescription.

[0020] In one aspect, the present invention resides in a shoppingtrolley basket, including:

[0021] a floor, hingedly connected to a front wall and/or side walls, ator adjacent a forward end of the floor, a rearward end of the floorbeing supported by a rear wall and the floor being substantiallyhorizontal or downwardly inclined from a rearward end to a forward end,so arranged that:

[0022] as a trolley provided with the basket is nested with a similartrolley, the rear wall is swung inwardly and upwardly to cause the floorto be swung upwardly to lie behind the front wall.

[0023] Preferably, the floor has a hinge member to define a distal floorportion operable to overlie the basket of the similar trolley nestedwithin the trolley.

[0024] In one alternative embodiment, the floor has a front portionhingedly connected to the front wall and/or side walls, and a secondhinge member connecting a rear portion of the floor to the frontportion.

[0025] In a second aspect, the present invention resides in a shoppingtrolley, including:

[0026] a basket, to receive articles, having a front wallinterconnecting a pair of side walls;

[0027] handle means at or adjacent a rear of the basket; and

[0028] wheel means supporting the basket, wherein:

[0029] the basket has a rear wall, preferably inclined to the vertical,operably hingedly connected to the side walls at or adjacent an upperend of the rear wall; and

[0030] a floor, having first and second side floor portions operablyhingedly connected to respective side walls, the floor beingsubstantially horizontal or downwardly inclined from a rearward end to aforward end, so arranged that:

[0031] as the trolley is nested with a similar trolley, the rear wall isswung inwardly and upwardly to cause the first and second side floorportions to swing upwardly to lie adjacent the respective side walls.

[0032] In a third aspect, the present invention resides in a shoppingtrolley, including:

[0033] a basket, to receive articles, having a front wallinterconnecting a pair of side walls;

[0034] handle means at or adjacent a rear of the basket; and

[0035] wheel means supporting the basket, wherein:

[0036] the basket has a rear wall, preferably inclined to the vertical,operably hingedly connected to the side walls at or adjacent an upperend of the rear wall; and

[0037] a floor, having first and second side floor portions operablyhingedly connected to respective side walls and a central floor portionconnected to the front wall and having a plurality of hingedly connectedfloor panels, the floor being substantially horizontal or downwardlyinclined from a rearward end to a front wall end; so arranged that:

[0038] as the trolley is nested with a similar trolley, the rear wall isswung inwardly and upwardly to cause the first and second side floorportions to swing upwardly to lie adjacent the respective side walls andthe floor panels of the central floor portion to fold in aconcertina-like fashion to a position adjacent the front wall.

[0039] Preferably, the side floor portions support side edges of thefloor panels of the central floor portion when the trolley is in use.

[0040] In a fourth aspect, the present invention resides in a shoppingtrolley, including;

[0041] a basket, to receive articles, having a front wallinterconnecting a pair of side walls;

[0042] handle means at or adjacent a rear of the basket; and

[0043] wheel means supporting the basket, wherein:

[0044] the basket has a rear wall, preferably inclined to the vertical,operably hingedly connected to side walls at or adjacent an upper end ofthe rear wall; and

[0045] a floor, having a plurality of floor panels or sections hingedlyinterconnected to each other, (preferably) extending transversely to thebasket, and (preferably) connected at a rearward end to the rear wall,the floor being substantially horizontal or downwardly inclined from therearward end to a forward end, so arranged that:

[0046] as the trolley is nested with a similar trolley, the rear wall isswung inwardly and upwardly to cause the floor to be swung upwardly tolie behind the front wall, where the floor panels of floor sections arehingedly movable to accommodate a change in angular relationship betweenthe rear wall and the front wall.

[0047] Preferably, the floor is hingedly connected to the front walland, preferably, the ends of the floor panels or floor sections aresupported by guides or supports along the side walls.

[0048] In a fifth aspect, the present invention resides in a shoppingtrolley, including:

[0049] a basket, to receive articles, having a front wallinterconnecting a pair of side walls;

[0050] handle means at or adjacent a rear of the basket; and

[0051] wheel means supporting the basket, wherein:

[0052] the basket has a rear wall, preferably inclined to the vertical,operably hingedly connected to side walls at or adjacent an upper end ofthe rear wall; and

[0053] a floor incorporating at least one panel of flexible fabric ormesh material connected to or adjacent a front wall and to the rearwall, side edges of the floor being supportable by guides on the sidewalls, the floor being substantially horizontal or downwardly inclinedfrom a rearward end to a forward end, so arranged that, as the trolleyis nested, the rear wall is swung inwardly and upwardly to cause theflexible fabric or mesh of the floor to be at least partially foldedand/or swung upwardly to lie behind the front wall.

[0054] In respective alterative embodiments, the handle means of thefirst to fifth aspects may be omitted.

[0055] Preferably, stops or blocks on the side walls engage, andsupport, the rear wall and the floor when the trolley is in use.

[0056] Preferably, the side and front walls are formed of plasticsmaterial and may be injection moulded with an optional foam core orintegral steel (or aluminium) tubular frame.

[0057] Preferably, the rear wall and floor are of similar construction.

[0058] Preferably, the side walls are concave in plan view and areinwardly tapered towards the front wall in plan view.

[0059] Preferably, a pair of rear wheels, which may be fixed orsteerable, are provided on axles supported on downwardly directed legsor extensions at the rear of the side walls.

[0060] While the trolley may have a pair of front wheels, it ispreferred to have a single steerable, eg., castor front wheel.

[0061] Preferably, the handle means interconnects extensions at theupper rear ends of the side walls and may be provided with shopping baghanging means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] To enable the invention to be fully understood, preferredembodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

[0063]FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional side view of a first embodiment ofthe trolley;

[0064]FIG. 2 is a similar view of the front part of the trolley;

[0065] FIG.3 is a front elevational view of the trolley;

[0066]FIG. 4 is a sectional side view taken on section A-A in FIG. 3;

[0067]FIG. 5 is a front view of the handle; and

[0068]FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional side view of the second embodimentof the trolley.

[0069]FIGS. 7 and 8 are respective top plan and schematic sectional sideviews of the third embodiment of the trolley;

[0070]FIGS. 9 and 10 are similar views of a fourth embodiment of thetrolley;

[0071]FIGS. 11 and 12 are similar views of a fifth embodiment of thetrolley;

[0072]FIGS. 13 and 14 are similar view of a sixth embodiment of thetrolley;

[0073]FIGS. 15 and 16 are similar views of a seventh embodiment of thetrolley.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0074] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the trolley 10 has a basket 11,handle 12, front and rear wheels 13 and 14, to be hereinafter describedin more detail, and is arranged to be nested with a number of similartrolleys.

[0075] The basket 11, which is tapered towards its forward end, has apair of side walls 15, 16 interconnected by a front wall 17, which maybe provided with a pull handle 17 a.

[0076] Preferably, the front and side walls 15, 16 and 17 are mouldedintegrally of plastics material, eg., PVC (which may be coloured), wherethe injection moulding may incorporate internal bracing (not shown) orthe walls may be formed of a sandwich-like construction with an, eg.,PVC skin/expanded plastics foam core/PVC skin construction.

[0077] NB: The selection of the specific plastics materials can bevaried to suit the particular types of construction/colours.

[0078] It will be noted that the side walls 15, 16 are preferablyconcave in plan view and have low “skirts” which extend below the levelof the top of the front wheel 13.

[0079] In an alternative embodiment, a metal (eg., aluminium or steel)tubular frame may be provided for the basket, enclosed by the side andfront walls, where the “skirts” prevent children from being able tostand on the frame.

[0080] Preferably, the rear wheels 14 are non-steerable and are mountedon axles (not shown) supported by rearwardly/downwardly-extendingextensions 18 at the lower rear end of the side walls 15 and 16.

[0081] While a pair of steerable front wheels may be provided, it ispreferable to have a single steerable front wheel 13 provided with acastor-type support.

[0082] The rear wall 19 is hingedly mounted at its upper end 20 to theside walls 15, 16 and in normal use, is held in a position inclined tothe vertical by a pair of stops or blocks 21 on the inner faces of theside walls 15, 16.

[0083] It will be noted that the handle 12 interconnects rearwardlyextending extensions 12 a at the rear upper ends of the side walls 15,16, and bracing means (not shown) may interconnect the lower rear endsof the side walls 15, 16.

[0084] The floor 22 is hingedly connected to the side walls 15, 16and/or the front wall 17 by hinge means 23 at the forward end of thefloor 22. The floor has a main floor portion 25 interconnected to a reardistal floor portion 25 by a hinge member 26 which limits the hingedmovement of the distal portion 25 relative to the main floor portion 24.

[0085] When the trolley is in use, the floor 22 is supported on guidesor stops 27 on the inner faces of the side walls 15, 16 and the rear endof the floor 22 bears on the rear wall 19.

[0086] When a similar trolley is nested with the trolley 10, the rearwall 19 swings inwardly and upwardly about hinge 20 in the mannerindicated by the arrows 1, 2 and 3 in FIG. 1. This causes the floor 22to be swung upwardly in the direction indicated by the arrows A and Buntil the main floor portion 24 lies just behind the front wall 17. Whenthe main floor portion 22 reaches the nearly-vertical position, thehinge member 26 allows the rear distal floor portion 25 to be hingeddownwardly and overlie the adjacent portion of the rear wall 19.

[0087] When the nested trolley is removed, the action is reversed.

[0088] It will be noted that the floor 22 is downwardly-inclined fromthe rearward end to the forward end to enable the rear wall 19 to raisethe floor 22 in the manner hereinbefore described.

[0089] This arrangement of the floor 22 is in contrast with existingtrolleys, which always have the floor upwardly inclined from the rearwall towards the front wall.

[0090] The large surface areas of the outer faces of the side walls 15,16 and the front wall 17 provide relatively large areas for theplacement of advertising material Z (see FIGS. 7 and 8) and, ashereinbefore described, the walls may be coloured to match a corporateidentity, eg., they may be coloured red with white writing for thedisplay of the Registered “Coca-Cola” trade mark.

[0091] The handle 12 may be provided with a fixed, or removable, rackmember 30 which may be provided with a series of hooks 31 from whichplastic shopping bags may be suspended.

[0092] Referring to the second embodiment of FIG. 6, a child seat 140may be provided within the basket 111, behind the front wall 117 (andprovide additional bracing between the side walls 115, 116).

[0093] To accommodate the provision of the seat 140, the floor 122 has ahinge member 150 interconnecting the main floor portion 124 to a fixedfront floor portion 151 provided just rearwardly of the front wall 117.The operation of the rear wall 119 to raise the floor 122 is ashereinbefore described with reference to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3.

[0094] Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the trolley 210 of the thirdembodiment has a floor 222 formed by first and second side floorportions 222 a and 222 b which are hingedly connected to respective sidewalls 215, 216 and are so arranged that when the rear wall 219 is swunginwardly and upwardly as the trolley 210 is nested with a similartrolley, the side floor portions are moved from a substantiallyhorizontal position (to support a load in the basket) to substantiallyvertical positions lying adjacent the respective side walls 215, 216.

[0095] In the fourth embodiment of FIGS. 9 and 10 in the trolley 310,the floor 322 has first and second side floor portions 322 a and 322 bhingedly connected to the side walls 315, 316 and a central floorportion 322 c having a plurality of hingedly connected floor panels 322d extending substantially transversely of the basket with theforward-most floor panel 322 d being hingedly connected to the frontwall and the rear-most floor panel 322 d being hingedly connected therear wall 319.

[0096] When the trolley 310 is nested with a similar trolley, and therear wall 319 is swung inwardly and upwardly, the first and second sideportions 322 a and 322 b are swung upwardly and outwardly to lieadjacent the side walls 315, 316 while the floor panels 322 d of thecentral floor portion 322 fold in a concertina-like manner to lierearwardly of the front wall 317.

[0097] Preferably, the side floor portions 322 a, 322 b are arranged tosupport the adjacent ends of the floor panels 322 d when the floor 322is in the operative position to support a load within the basket.

[0098] In the fifth embodiment of FIGS. 11 and 12, the floor 322 of thetrolley 410 has a plurality of pivotally connected floor panels or floorsections 422 a extending substantially transversely to the basket, wherethe foremost floor panel 322 a is connected to the front wall (or to arearward extension from the front wall) and the rearmost of the floorpanels 422 a is hingedly connected to the rear wall 419 with the ends ofthe floor panel 422 a being supported by suitable guides extending alongthe side walls 415, 416.

[0099] As the trolley 410 is nested with a similar trolley, and the rearwall 419 is swung inwardly and upwardly, the floor panels 422 a canhingedly move relative to each other to accommodate the change inangular relationship between the front wall and the rear wall 419 andadopt the intermediate and final positions indicated in FIG. 12.

[0100] Finally, in the sixth embodiment of FIGS. 13 and 14, the trolley510 has a floor 522 where the floor 522 has a panel of flexible fabricor mesh attached at its rearward end to the rear wall 519, the sideedges of the floor 522 being supported by suitable guides extendingalong the side walls 515, 516 of the trolley. When the trolley 510 isnested with a similar trolley, and the rear wall 519 swings inwardly andupwardly, the flexible fabric or mesh of the floor 522 can flex and/orfold to adopt the “folded” configuration behind the front wall asillustrated in FIG. 14.

[0101] The trolley 610 of the seventh embodiment of FIGS. 15 and 16 hasa floor 522 similar to the floor 122 of trolley 110 of the secondembodiment of FIG. 6. The rear wall 519 is hingedly mounted on the sidewalls 515, 516. A pair of baskets 519 a are hingedly connected to theside wall 519, at their lower ends, and have slots 519 b which receivepins 519 c on respective links 519 d hingedly mounted on the side wall519 intermediate its height.

[0102] As shown in FIG. 16, the rear wall is swung inwardly and upwardlyto raise the floor 522 to a position where the hinge member 526 allowsthe rear distal floor portion 525 to lie substantially horizontal to themain floor portion 524 to lie behind the front wall 517.

[0103] Various advantages of the trolley, the subject of the presentinvention, include:

[0104] 1) the hingedly mounted rear wall and foldable floor enables thetrolleys to be readily nested;

[0105] 2) those features further enable the side and front walls to havegreater surface areas suitable for provision of advertising material;

[0106] 3) the method of construction of the trolleys (which may includea “softer” outer plastic skin) minimises the risk of damage if they comeinto contact with cars, walls, supermarket fittings and the like, andthe likelihood of corrosion is minimised;

[0107] 4) the preferred tricycle design, having a steerable front wheeland fixed rear wheels enables larger wheels to be used and eliminatesthe wheel “shudder” encountered with known carts. (It is possible, inalternative embodiments, to have four wheels, where the rear pair ofwheels may be steerable if preferred.);

[0108] 5) the carts will be of relatively light weight without loss ofstrength, and may be able to float to make recovery from harbours andstreams easier;

[0109] 6) a shelf or ledge (or child seat) may be located within thebasket, where children can sit/food items can be placed;

[0110] 7) a brake or speed governor is provided over, or as part of, thehandle or by one or more wheels activated either by hand or foot may beincluded to prevent the trolley rolling away when placed on an incline;

[0111] 8) a tracking device, preferably concealed within the wall(s) maybe included to enable the trolleys to be located when removed fromshopping areas;

[0112] 9) a grab handle may be provided at the front which, whencombined with the lower height of the front wall, will make it easierfor shoppers to pull the trolleys and load/unload them (especially atthe checkout stage).

[0113] 10) where the trolleys are provided with rear wheels which canpivot, then a lever may be provided unlocking the fixed position of therear wheels, making them easier to move in nested groups.

[0114] Various other changes and modifications may be made to theembodiments described and illustrated without departing from the presentinvention defined in the claims.

1. A shopping trolley basket, including: a floor, hingedly connected toa front wall and/or side walls, at or adjacent a forward end of thefloor, a rearward end of the floor being supported by a rear wall andthe floor being substantially horizontal or downwardly inclined from arearward end to a forward end, so arranged that: as a trolley providedwith the basket is nested with a similar trolley, the rear wall is swunginwardly and upwardly to cause the floor to be swung upwardly to liebehind the front wall.
 2. A trolley as claimed in claim 1, wherein thefloor has a hinge member to define a distal floor portion operable tooverlie the basket of the similar trolley nested within the trolley. 3.A trolley as claimed in claim 1, wherein the floor has a front portionhingedly connected to the front wall and/or side walls, and a secondhinge member connecting a rear portion of the floor to the frontportion.
 4. A shopping trolley, including: a basket, to receivearticles, having a frontwall interconnecting a pair of side walls;handle means at or adjacent a rear of the basket; and wheel meanssupporting the basket, wherein: the basket has a rear wall, inclined tothe vertical, operably hingedly connected to the side walls at oradjacent an upper end of the rear wall; and a floor, having first andsecond side floor portions operably hingedly connected to respectiveside walls, the floor being substantially horizontal or downwardlyinclined from a rearward end to a forward end, so arranged that: as thetrolley is nested with a similar trolley, the rear wall is swunginwardly and upwardly to cause the first and second side floor portionsto swing upwardly to lie adjacent the respective side walls.
 5. Ashopping trolley, including: a basket, to receive articles, having afront wall interconnecting a pair of side walls; handle means at oradjacent a rear of the basket; and wheel means supporting the basket,wherein: the basket has a rear wall, inclined to the vertical, operablyhingedly connected to the side walls at or adjacent an upper end of therear wall; and a floor, having first and second side floor portionsoperably hingedly connected to respective side walls and a central floorportion connected to the front wall and having a plurality of hingedlyconnected floor panels, the floor being substantially horizontal ordownwardly inclined from a rearward end to a front wall end; so arrangethat: as the trolley is nested with a similar trolley, the rear wall isswung inwardly and upwardly to cause the first and second side floorportions to swing upwardly to lie adjacent the respective side walls andthe floor panels of the central floor portion to fold in aconcertina-like fashion to a position adjacent the front wall.
 6. Atrolley as claimed in claim 5, wherein the side floor portions supportside edges of the floor panels of the central floor portion when thetrolley is in use.
 7. A shopping trolley, including: a basket, toreceive articles, having a frontwall interconnecting a pair of sidewalls; handle means at or adjacent a rear of the basket; and wheel meanssupporting the basket, wherein: the basket has a rear wall, inclined tothe vertical, operably hingedly connected to side walls at or adjacentan upper end of the rearwall; and a floor, having a plurality of floorpanels or sections hingedly interconnected to each other, extendingtransversely to the basket, and connected at a rearward end to the rearwall, the floor being substantially horizontal or downwardly inclinedfrom the rearward end to a forward end, so arranged that: as the trolleyis nested with a similar trolley, the rear wall is swung inwardly andupwardly to cause the floor to be swung upwardly to lie behind the frontwall, where the floor panels of floor sections are hingedly movable toaccommodate a change in angular relationship between the rear wall andthe front wall.
 8. A trolley as claimed in claim 7, wherein the floor ishingedly connected to the front wall and, the ends of the floor panelsor floor sections are supported by guides or supports along the sidewalls.
 9. A shopping trolley, including; a basket, to receive articles,having a front wall interconnecting a pair of side walls; handle meansat or adjacent a rear of the basket; and wheel means supporting thebasket, wherein: the basket has a rear wall, inclined to the vertical,operably hingedly connected to side walls at or adjacent an upper end ofthe rearwall; and a floor incorporating at least one panel of flexiblefabric or mesh material connected to or adjacent a front wall and to therearwall, side edges of the floor being supportable by guides on theside walls, the floor being substantially horizontal or downwardlyinclined from a rearward end to a forward end, so arranged that, as thetrolley is nested with a similar trolley, the rear wall is swunginwardly and upwardly to cause the flexible fabric or mesh of the floorto be at least partially folded and/or swing upwardly to lie behind thefront wall.
 10. A trolley as claimed in claim 1, wherein the handlemeans are omitted.
 11. A trolley as claimed in claim 1, wherein stops orblocks on the side walls engage, and support, the rear wall and thefloor when the trolley is in use.
 12. A trolley as claimed in claim 1,wherein the side and front walls are formed of plastics material, beinginjection moulded with a foam core and/or integral steel or aluminiumtubular frame.
 13. A trolley as claimed claim 12, wherein the rear walland floor are of similar construction.
 14. A trolley as claimed in claim1, wherein the side walls are concave in plan view and are inwardlytapered towards the front wall in plan view.
 15. A trolley as claimed inclaim 1, wherein a pair of rear wheels, which are fixed or steerable,are provided on axles supported on downwardly directed legs orextensions at the rear of the side walls.
 16. A trolley as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the trolley has a pair of front wheels, or a singlesteerable front wheel.
 17. A trolley as claimed in claim 1, wherein thehandle means interconnects extensions at the upper rear ends of the sidewalls and is provided with shopping bag hanging means.